Mental Health Symptoms Among US College Students Before, Early, and Late Into the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Purpose: To study how COVID-19 stress-related factors and changes in psychosocial resources during the pandemic contributed to changes in mental health symptoms among first-year college students during the pandemic.

Methods: Using data on 339 first-year students (ages 18-20) at a large public university in North Carolina, we evaluated changes in anxiety and depression symptoms from before to early and later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we estimated longitudinal associations of chronic stress, COVID-19 stress/stressors and psychosocial resources with anxiety and depression symptoms using a first-difference model.

The effect of social media use on mental health of college students during the pandemic.

Social media is viewed to be a key contributor to worsening mental health in adolescents, as most recently reflected in a public health advisory by the US Surgeon General. We provide new evidence on the causal effects of social media on mental health of college students during the Covid-19 pandemic, exploiting unique, longitudinal data collected before the Covid-19 pandemic began and at two points during the pandemic. We find small insignificant effects of social media 4 months into the pandemic during a period of social distancing, but large statistically significant negative effects 18 months into the pandemic when colleges were mostly back to normal operations.

Perceived stress, mental health symptoms, and deleterious behaviors during the transition to college.

Background: This study examined associations between different sources of chronic perceived stress and deleterious behaviors (eating disorder symptoms, insufficient sleep, and insufficient vigorous physical activity) among first-year college students.

Methods: The study used data on 885 first-year students (ages 18-20) at a large public university in North Carolina. The prevalence of deleterious behaviors was evaluated.

The Effect of Social and Stress-Related Factors on Alcohol Use Among College Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to study how Covid-19 stress-related factors and changes in social engagement during the pandemic contributed to changes in alcohol use among first-year college students.

Methods: We used data on 439 first-year students (ages 18-20) at a large public university in North Carolina both before (October 2019 to February 2020) and after (June/July 2020) the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We evaluated changes in prevalence and days of alcohol use and binge drinking.

The Covid-19 pandemic and mental health of first-year college students: Examining the effect of Covid-19 stressors using longitudinal data.

Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented stress to students and educational institutions across the world. We aimed to estimate the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of college students.

Methods: We used data on 419 first-year students (ages 18-20) at a large public university in North Carolina both before (October 2019-February 2020) and after (June/July 2020) the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Religion and Depression in Adolescence.

Depression is the leading cause of illness and disability in adolescence. Many studies show a correlation between religiosity and mental health, yet the question remains whether the relationship is causal. We exploit within-school variation in adolescents' peers to deal with selection into religiosity.

How The Timing of Grade Retention Affects Outcomes: Identification and Estimation of Time-Varying Treatment Effects.

In many countries, grade retention is viewed as a useful tool for helping students who fall behind in their achievement. We show how the effect of grade retention varies by abilities, by timing of retention and as time since retention elapses. While existing studies of grade retention also recognize the importance of studying variation by abilities and timing, the existing methods are not well-equipped to deal with the possibility that students retained at different grades differ in unobservable abilities (dynamic selection) and the effects of retention also vary by the student's abilities and the time at which the student is retained.